Holy Spirit retreat draws more than 350 teens

    The view from the inside is dark. That is, to see the lives of today’s teenagers from the inside is often to feel submerged in a heap of hurt and hopelessness.
    The fallout from broken families and a culture prone to hedonism is witnessed most acutely in the youth. That is why the genuine joy shining on the faces of the 360 teenagers gathered in Metairie Jan. 3-5 was such a sign of contradiction.
    Who or what could bring such a freedom?
    The Catholic Charismatic Renewal of New Orleans (CCRNO) held its annual Holy Spirit Retreat for Teens and Young Adults. Its theme was “For freedom Christ has set us free” (Gal 5:1).
    The personal encounter with Jesus in the power of his Holy Spirit brought a liberation from the darkness of sin and revealed to the teens a future full of hope. That the Jesus whom they had heard in their catechism classes was not merely a dead guy from Nazareth but the living Lord could be surprising. That he loved them with an infinite and profound love was life changing.
    Interspersed with talks by speakers such as Father Steve Bruno, Colin and Aimee MacIver, Deacon Larry Oney, Patti Mansfield and others was time for musical praise and worship, sacramental confession, eucharistic adoration and Mass. St. Mary’s Academy campus minister, Matt Bourgeois, and Casey Sprehe were the weekend’s emcees, while Leslie Bertucci and the Noloudrocks band provided music.
Every person is loved by God
    Father Bruno, archdiocesan vocations director, spoke and sang of the “eyes of the Lord” in the keynote address. He noted how the “eyes” of God see every creature, but, in a particular way, God’s “eyes” fall on each human person in a gaze of powerful affection.
    “My favorite part was definitely adoration,” Mount Carmel Academy student Melinda Davis said. “Being in the physical presence of Jesus was truly so comfortable and peaceful, and it brought me so much joy.”
    On Saturday evening, Mansfield spoke of her remarkable encounter with God, whose presence was tremendous and yet irresistible.
    “When I experienced the presence of God, I was in awe and fear.” she said. “And, yet, greater than my fear of him was my need for him.”
    Mansfield encouraged the youth to surrender to the power of the Holy Spirit who changed the apostles’ lives on Pentecost. Numbers of teens attended the sacrament of reconciliation, and the hotel ballroom seemed to be filled with praise of God, akin to the atmosphere of that first Pentecost.
    “That was the night that the majority of the retreat participants, myself included, felt all the walls dividing us from God really crumble,” Mary Ann Casadaban of Mount Carmel said. “It was a very moving experience.”
    The retreat concluded with Sunday Mass, where families were invited to celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany with the youth. Following Mass, Father Bruno invited those youth willing to consider a vocation to priesthood or religious life to come forward for special prayer. About 40 youth came forward.
    Alex Lorio holds a master’s degree in theology from Notre Dame Seminary and serves as a volunteer in the CCRNO Youth Ministry, which meets Sunday nights at the Rummel Raider Room.